Information about books for Children/Tweens/YA, with a little bit of writing thrown in. Explore new books. Discover new authors. Uncover pieces of an author's life. All with a focus on getting Young Readers to read and write more.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Meet Fantasy Author L. R. W. Lee

L. R. W. Lee credits her love of fantasy to C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Later on, she enjoyed the complex world of Middle Earth brought to life by J. R. R. Tolkien in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The multiple dimensions of the worlds mixed with a layer of meaning captivated her and made her desire to invent worlds others could get lost in, but also take meaning away from. More recently, L. R. W. Lee has found inspiration from J. K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series as well as Brandon Mull and his best selling Fablehaven, Beyonders and Five Kingdoms series.

L. R. W. Lee writes to teach her readers principles that can transform their lives – overcoming frustration, impatience, fear and more. She also shows why responsibility, diligence and dignity are the keys to true success in life. L. R. W. Lee lives in scenic Austin, TX with her husband. Their daughter just started her first job, for Microsoft, and their son serves in the Air Force.Why did you pick to write books for MG/YA?

I love this age, and I remember the books I read at this stage. Teens today have so many challenges facing them, seemingly more and on a grander scale than when I was growing up—I feel like I lived a relatively sheltered childhood comparatively. When I was growing up, the common notion was to work hard and keep your nose clean, and you would succeed. Today, I see culture and society lacking narratives about how to cope with the challenges teens face. There’s no story about what it really takes to succeed today. There’s no narrative about dealing with fear or impatience, let alone frustration and more. My books bring forth these narratives in a way readers can grasp and apply, all as part of the story line.What types of books do you like to read?

I am a YA Fantasy Romance junkie.

When you are not writing, what do you like to do?

Read. Sorry to be so boring, but I’ve traveled to worlds and times and more, in the comfort of my easy chair. It’s hardly a boring pastime.

Tell us about Vision of the Griffin's Heart and how the story came to be.

Vision of the Griffin’s Heartis the fifth book in the Andy Smithson coming-of-age, epic fantasy series.

The narrative came to be out of my desire to write a book in the fashion
of my literary heroes J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, J. K. Rowling and
others. In this series, I develop five layers throughout the story: 1)
Andy Smithson at home in Lakehills, TX; 2) Andy Smithson in Oomaldee; 3)
Imogenia, the girl who was murdered, from the afterlife. She is the one
who got Andy involved to begin with; 4) Andy’s conscience; and 5) a
meaning layer.

Here's a peek at Vision of the Griffin's Heart:

Four years ago, Andy Smithson discovered he was the Chosen one to break a 500-yr-old curse plaguing the land of Oomaldee when he unexpectedly and mysteriously found himself there. To do so, he must collect ingredients for a magical potion. Thus far he has gathered the scale of a red dragon, venom from a giant serpent, a unicorn’s horn, and the tail feather of a phoenix. Now he must ask a griffin for one of its talons. There’s just one problem…humans have poached griffin treasure, causing these mythical creatures to attack on sight.

Complicating matters, the evil Abaddon, sovereign of Oomaldee’s northern neighbor, is turning more and more citizens into zolt in his ongoing campaign of terror as he sets in motion the final steps of his plan to conquer the land.

Have you written other books? If so, tell us a bit about them.

As I mentioned above, Griffin's Heart is the fifth book in Andy Smithson series. The other are the prequel Power of the Heir's Passion, Book 1 Blast of the Dragon's Fury, Book 2 Venom of the Serpent's Cunning, Book 3 Disgrace of the Unicorn's Honor, and Book 4 Resurrection of the Phoenix's Grace.

What’s next for your writing? Are you working on a new story?

Book six is up next after I complete the re-write of book one in the series. Why am I re-writing book one, especially since it’s free? My craft has dramatically improved over the past 3-4 years, thanks in large part to my editor, and even though the book is free, it is the determining factor as to whether folks newly introduced to the series will read more of the books or not.

What advice do you have for other authors?Know why you write and be passionate about following your "Why", for you will encounter many times of discouragement when only your "why" will see you through. Always know, if you're not passionate about your "why" no one else will be either.

Anything else you want readers to know?If you love YA fantasy and sci-fi, every week I host a YouTube channel called Book Nerd Paradise where I help you get to know a YA fantasy or sci-fi author as they read from their work, pose a fun book trivia question, share their favorite quote and do a giveaway! Ten minutes of your time can help you decide if you want to spend more time with an author who is new to you. Find the channel at http://bit.ly/BookNerdParadiseYouTube

I've signed up and posted my book. I've visited everyone's website. There are some awesome children's authors out there. I've added the Kid Lit Blog Hop graphic to my website (although I don't have sidebars, so it's just as a post). What else do I need to do?

Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend

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Historical Novel Society

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About Me

I’m a retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those Young-at-Heart to read more through my Tales and Legends for Reluctant Readers set in these worlds.
I also conduct Medieval Writing Workshops for local elementary/middle schools.